Last year, I wrote a post titled “21 bold predictions for the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers.” I didn’t hold back and threw out some ridiculous and very bold predictions. Even crazier, I believed in most of them at the time.
I stumbled upon the post today and my god…I could not have been farther off on so many things. After looking at some of these, you may want to read another blog. Let us recap and see how many I hit or missed with…Battleship style!
1. Ben Roethlisberger misses at least two full games due to injury. The offensive line isn’t much better and after you win a Super Bowl, good luck is tough to come by.
Big Ben started 15 games and was mostly healthy. MISS.
2. Willie Parker outgains Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelede Moore by quite a bit and surprises a lot of people. Announcers say “He hasn’t lost a step.”
Jesus…
Fast Willie rushed for a total of 389 yards last year. MISS.
3. Number of times James Harrison is held and no flag is thrown: 251.
Cha-ching. HIT.
Read the rest after the jump…
4. The Steelers will lose one of the first two games of the season and people will call for heads, most likely Bruce Arians.
Pittsburgh lost a winnable game against Chicago in Week Two and heads were indeed called for. HIT.
5. Number of times James Harrison is held and a flag is thrown: 7
I’m not aware of any data kept on players drawing penalties, but I think it was pretty close. HIT.
6. Brady Quinn doesn’t fare any better than Derek Anderson. The Browns finish 6-10.
Quinn’s QB rating was 67.2 compared to a paltry 42.1 from Anderson. I still wouldn’t call a 67.2 rating much of an improvement. The Browns finished 5-11. HIT.
7. Isaac “Redzone” Redman dresses for two games and scores a touchdown.
He didn’t even have two carries. MISS.
8. He will struggle again early, but by the end of the year, Limas Sweed is clearly the Steelers third best wide receiver.
This is the one I’m most embarrassed by. Sweed finished the year with one catch for five yards. MISS.
9. The Bengals “improve,” but still only finish 6-10. Ryan Clark will nearly end Chad Ochocinco’s career.
Ummmmmmm. MISS.
10. Three Steelers who become heroes at some point during the season: William Gay, Mewelde Moore, Keyaron Fox.
Fox stepped up and played well, but Gay was awful and Moore mostly invisible. MISS.
11. Three Steelers who become goats at some point during the season: Roethlisberger, Lawrence Timmons, Sweed.
I’d say this is a HIT.
12. Stefan Logan scores 3 TDs this season. Gets compared to Darren Sproles three teams each game.
Logan had a few nice returns, but didn’t score any TDs and the preseason magic was gone. MISS.
13. The Baltimore Ravens finish 10-6, as the defense slips a bit and Flacco falters down the stretch.
They were 9-7 and Flacco was better than I thought for the most part. His 39.4 QB rating in the playoffs makes this a good prediction though. HIT.
14. Ray Lewis will still play like he’s 25 and I’ll be in awe. Ditto with Derrick Mason.
I could pencil this one in for every year. Neither guy ever gets old. HIT.
15. James Harrison won’t be the only Steeler LB attending the Pro Bowl at the end of the season.
Yep. HIT.
16. This is *finally* the year that Santonio Holmes becomes the Steelers number one receiver.
He had more yards, but Hines Ward had more catches in TDs. I’ll call this one a PUSH.
17. The Steelers finish 11-5, winning the AFC North again but an inconsistent offense leaves doubts.
Not quite that good. And the defense was the inconsistent one. MISS.
18. Drew Brees wins the NFL MVP.
Maybe I meant Super Bowl MVP? MISS.
19. People will complain about number 20 on this list. “OMGZ but yinz a Stillerz blog!”
N/A
20. The Steelers lose to the San Diego Chargers in the divisional round of the AFC Playoffs.
MISS.
21. Holmes will be the Steelers offensive MVP and Harrison the defensive pick
Big Ben and Woodley. MISS.
HIT: 8
MISS: 11
PUSH: 1
N/A: 1
As terrible as most of these look, it was a fun exercise and I’ll probably do it again for the 2010 season. I’m no expert (insert Andy Sutton joke either), but I think my epic failure shows just how hard it is to predict what will happen in any given NFL season. Injuries are impossible to predict. So are off-the-field problems and team chemistry. I suppose that is why football is so fun to watch. Anyway, feel free to rip me apart in the comments.
